After consistently forecasting lower home prices, more now expect prices to stabilize during the coming six months or to rise. The change is small, but it is the first positive change in more than six months.

Few that watched the Olympics would disagree that it was the "Greatest Show on Earth." With a cast of thousands, the opening and closing ceremonies were a remarkable, even overwhelming spectacle.

Americans who are doing less driving have steadily increased over the past 12 months as the price of gas escalated. In early August, 90% of motorists said that they were cutting back on their driving.

Confidence in America's schools to educate the next generation has been an underpinning of America's preeminence and prosperity. For Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, public education was a vital ingredient in unifying America as a free nation.

While slow to take off, the idea of recycling has awakened the nation to the need to reprocess and reuse materials that we dismiss from our minds when finished using them. For many who grew up with a regular habit of returning bottles to collect deposits, the emergence of recycling is not entirely new.